A History of Sanskrit Literature c28.s1.1

c28.s1.1

THE oldest lexicographic work¹ carried out in India is recorded in the *Nighaṇṭavas*, collections of Vedic terms, of which the most important are the lists handed down to us with the *Nirukta* of Yāska.² These, however, differ in many respects from the Koças of classical literature. They were drawn up for practical purposes like the latter, but in the case of the Nighaṇṭu literature the purpose was essentially interpretation of sacred texts which were becoming more and more obscure, while the Koças were prepared to help poets to a supply of words. In accord with this we find dictionaries attributed to such poets as Bāṇa, Mayūra, Murāri, and Çrīharṣa, who composed one of terms for use in double meanings, *Çleṣārthapadasaṁgraha*.³ The Nighaṇṭus further contained not merely nominal but also verbal forms, the Koças only nouns and indeclinables, and while the former dealt with one special text, the latter are not based on any special text. In keeping with the new spirit the Koças are in verse, usually Çlokas but also Āryās, and, by incorporating expressions from many of the arts which a poet was expected to have mastered, they saved him labour. The composition of such works may have been fostered by the existence of the Dhātupāṭhas and other lists of the grammarians, but this is conjectural.